Battle over biotech crops to continue

Several Colorado agricultural groups are on high alert for the possible introduction of new legislation targeting genetically modified crops this year.

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By Candace Krebs

LA Junta Tribune - La Junta, CO

By Candace Krebs

Posted Jan. 8, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By Candace Krebs

Posted Jan. 8, 2013 at 6:00 AM

LOVELAND, Colo. — Several Colorado agricultural groups are on high alert for the possible introduction of new legislation targeting genetically modified crops this year.

Becky Brooks, state lobbyist for the Colorado Corn Growers Association, reported at the Colorado Ag Classic that she has heard “rumblings” about a statewide push for some type of GMO initiative.

“There’s a chance it could be coming up in Colorado this year,” added Jules Van Thuyne, a Longmont farmer who farms land held in a conservation easement managed by Boulder County. “Nobody’s exempt. Every county along the Front Range has an open space program. It could very easily become a state issue.”

According to news reports, 30 states around the country are now working on legislation relating to labeling of genetically modified crops. New Mexico, Washington, Oregon and Vermont are likely to see new initiatives pop up this year.

Debate over use of the technology, which represents progress to some and a source of concern to others, isn’t likely to end any time soon.

In November, voters in California narrowly defeated Proposition 37, one of the first major proposals to require labeling of genetically modified foods. It failed after labeling opponents spent an estimated $46 million in the campaign.

In Colorado, Boulder County has already been the site of an intense showdown over GM crops. The experience of farmers there might be used in the future as a blueprint for how to respectfully take on biotech opponents and make the case for GM crops.

Boulder County first approved GMO corn planting on the county’s open space land in 2003. In 2008, a request was made to expand that policy to include sugar beets. A three-year battle ensued over whether or not to allow the expansion.

U.S. Department of Agriculture approval of GM technology for sugar beets was itself a lengthy process besieged with lawsuits from environmental groups questioning its potential impact. In July, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service formally granted non-regulated status for sugar beets genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, commonly referred to as Roundup Ready. The agency completed “a thorough environmental impact statement and plant pest risk assessment, held three public meetings and considered and analyzed thousands of comments” before concluding that RR sugar beets are as safe as traditionally bred.

According to estimates, more than 95 percent of the sugar beets grown in the U.S. are genetically modified, which increases yields while improving weed control and reducing labor. About 85 percent of the nation’s corn and more than 90 percent of soybeans are also the product of genetic modification.

In Boulder County — hotbed of vegetarianism, organic mania and dairy alternatives like soy milk — the backlash against GM crops grown on publicly managed land was particularly strong. Six weeks before the sugar beet request was to be considered at a public hearing, farmers realized they were in trouble.

Farmers lined up experts from the local University of Colorado campus and took their message directly to the editorial boards at the local newspapers. They started hosting farm tours and cultivating closer personal relationships with county commissioners. Most challenging, but perhaps most importantly, they rallied all farmers to get involved.

A number of farmers who refused to speak up publicly agreed to attend the hearing to make their presence known.

The flood of farmers at the hearing seemed to have an impact. Boulder County commissioners made a unanimous decision to allow limited planting of GMO sugar beets on open space land, an interim policy that will be given time to “mature.”

“It did bring a lot of guys together,” Van Thuyne said. “It was one of my proudest days of being a producer in Boulder County. It was amazing to be a part of it.”

In the end — and somewhat to their surprise — several farmers who spoke up during the fray became “the new rock stars” around town.

Dan Lisco runs a horseback-riding business, raises hay and serves on the nine-member committee overseeing use of open space land in Boulder County. He said simply becoming more visible, being accessible and providing factual information paid off.

“I’ve been surprised how many people will give you a second chance,” he said. “One commissioner who was opposed became our number one supporter after looking at the science.”

Boulder-area farmers plan to build on their success. Next up, they plan to get more involved in the local food push, making sure that large farms also get recognized for falling under that canopy along with urban farms and gardens.

Diane Mulligan, a former television journalist and now a Denver-based public relations consultant who helped Rocky Ford melon growers rehab their image after a deadly listeria outbreak in cantaloupe grown by Holly’s Jensen Farms, said what crop farmers did in Boulder County was a textbook case of a job well done.

Farmers need to step up and do interviews, making sure their main message is carefully considered and kept firmly in mind, she said.

“You have an authenticity that comes through that a corporate PR person doesn’t have,” she tells farmers. “That’s what the media is looking for.”

Aiming for peaceful co-existence

On the national level, organic and conventional farmers are still trying to work out an approach described as “co-existence” by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. He insists that individual farmers should have a choice between growing GMO or non-GMO crops.

Page 3 of 3 - A recent report published by the secretary’s biotechnology advisory committee was mostly upbeat, but said challenges remain. Compensation mechanisms for crop contamination remain particularly difficult to develop. More research on gene flow management was recommended. USDA was also urged to provide farmers with tools and incentives for careful stewardship of genetic material.

Farmers in Boulder County say the conditional approval they received for growing GM sugar beets demanded concessions from both sides.

“There were things we didn’t like,” Van Thuyne acknowledged.

Still, with the Boulder County matter settled — at least for the moment — the frontlines of the biotech battle are shifting to other communities and potentially to the state as a whole.

“It’s taken the limelight away from Boulder County a little bit,” a relieved Van Thuyne said.